Hope is like the sun is shining

First thing this morning I had a long skype discussion with my friend who just decided to take some drastic action that’s resulted in a lot of hope for him that wasn’t there last week. I said, “Hope is my favourite word.” He said, “Yes, it’s like the sun is shining.” You have to know the man to know how cool this exchange was!

As you know, I’m loving getting out to venues that don’t contain vampires and the like. It’s a small ask but logistics have to be considered in advance, which is a pain in the neck (pun fully intended). Yummy mummy friends have likened it to the first time they go out with prams and suddenly things need a bit of thinking through. Today, it was easy though. Mrs B came all the way to London from the Isle of Wight for the day, and we went to Harvey Nicks for soup and chips for lunch. Gotta love my friends. Seriously. Thanks Mrs B. xx

pumpkin soup and chips :-)

And the afternoon brought my goddaughter and her mummy and Juliet. So… Mrs B, Harvey Nicks, friends for tea/supper, “hope is like the sun is shining” and no hospitals until tomorrow. Enough said. Today was flipping good.

I also have a job for you (what, you thought this was a free read??!!). My research skills aren’t, temporarily, quite as scary as they were a few weeks ago. So I have a mission for you.

(If you’re the person remembering I tracked down the home address of your internet date, and followed it up with a google earth picture of your “I assure you that you’ll never find my address’ house, in under 3 minutes, you’ll know what I mean… anyone else is just going to be plain scared now. (And, yes, I’m telling you cos you need to know how easy these things usually are. And YES, that’s why I hide my friends list on facebook, etc! And yes, SteveG I am thinking of how you worked out my local tube station from the three slips I made with location, two of which you’ll now notice are gone and the third – I think you know the one I mean, no one else will think to do!!!))

ANYWAY, I’m trying to find a charity that arranges emergency payments to people who suddenly end up in hospital with months of recovery ahead of them. Not for me, obviously, because my employer is bloody marvelous, and I’m not going to take months. But I can’t get out of my head the crying that happens when a guy realizes he suddenly can’t pay the next rent/mortgage nor feed his kids because of something that happened without warning… and there is jack he can do about it. It’s the most horrible, horrible thing right now every time I think about it. The govt. seems to give a paltry £200 emergency grant if you know it exists and how to ask for it; but that’s all I can find. Seeing as the longer term prospect for many who are much harder hit is crappy benefits and long term strife (and indignity), it seems to me that there must already be some kind of charity that can give an interim, immediate payment to at least get a family/someone through their first 3 months without a struggle. Your mission, should you choose to accept it, is to find it for me, please!!!

p.s. Also saw this re the Wii. Rob: you’re lucky I don’t like computer games else I’d be stealing yours for a few weeks! x

Only as much as I am… I prefer to think of it as intelligent use of the resources one is presented with. (I’m supposed to be writing an essay on stalkers and, though I’ve stopped reading, I can definitely say we don’t count!!!)

If not eligible for Statutory Sick pay, Government pays Employment and Support Allowance almost immediately, at £65 a week, until such time as the person is properly assessed, where it goes up to about £95 a week. Not great, but it all helps:

Best place to search for charities is http://www.charity-commission.gov.uk but I can’t find anything that fits the bill that isn’t just for specific diseases, or isn’t restricted to very small geographic areas. However, their search engine isn’t great so it might just be a case of picking the right keywords…